February 2009

A consortium of France’s GDF Suez, Iberdrola of Spain, whose subsidiaries include Scottish Power, and Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) forms to take part in an auction for sites owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and EDF to develop a new wave of nuclear power stations in the UK.

April 2009

The NDA nominates an 18-acre parcel of land it owns to the north of Sellafield as a potential site for nuclear new build.

October 2009

GDF Suez, Iberdrola and SSE secure an option to buy the land from the NDA.


October 2010

The Government confirms, through its National Policy Statement, that the site is suitable for development. Controversial proposals by Germany’s RWE for power stations at Braystones and Kirksanton fail to make the grade.

November 2010

NuGeneration Limited (NuGen) is formed by GDF Suez, Iberdrola and SSE.


January 2011

NuGen opens its office at Westlakes Science and Technology Park at Moor Row, near Whitehaven.

September 2011

SSE announces it is pulling out of the consortium to focus on renewable green energy projects, and later sells its 25 per cent stake to GDF Suez and Iberdrola for £5.7m.

December 2011

The proposed site north of Sellafield is named Moorside by NuGen.


March 2012

NuGen is granted a generation licence by regulators Ofgem.

November 2012

The National Grid, through its North West Coast Connections (NWCC) project, announces it is pursuing two options to connect energy from Moorside to the national energy supply.


January 2014

Toshiba enters the NuGen consortium, buying Iberdrola’s 50 per cent stake, and a further 10 per cent from GDF Suez, in a combined £102m deal.

The Japanese company outlines its plans for its subsidiary Westinghouse to develop three AP1000 reactors at Moorside with a combined capacity of 3.6GW, with the first unit producing electricity by the end of 2024.

May 2014

Key commercial terms on the land option for Moorside are agreed by NuGen and the NDA.

December 2014

NuGen awards a contract to Amec Foster Wheeler to undertake specialised environmental consultancy work as momentum starts to gather behind the project.


February 2015

NuGen moves its headquarters from London to Manchester.

May 2015

NuGen opens its exhibition facility and offices at Whitehaven Civic Hall to coincide with the start of a 10-week public consultation with events across Cumbria. GDF Suez changes its name to Engie.

June 2015

Tom Samson is named at the new chief executive of NuGen, moving from his role as chief operating officer at the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, based in Abu Dhabi.

The National Grid announces its preferred option for a new grid connection to Moorside.

July 2015

NuGen confirms that the site is suitable for the construction of three AP1000 reactors and completes a deal for the Moorside site for an undisclosed sum, believed to be in the region of £300m.

December 2015

Site characterisation work gets underway at Moorside to help inform the design and layout of the site.


January 2016

NuGen launches its three-year Bright Sparks educational initiative to help young people from local schools to understand electricity generation and explore career opportunities in the sector. Over two years, it awards over £60,000 in Green Grants to local community groups.

February 2016

A wastewater treatment plant becomes the first facility at the Moorside site to be brought online by NuGen.

May 2016

Korean state-owned utility Kepco is linked as a potential investor in NuGen, as a second wave of public consultation events takes place across the county.

October 2016

The National Grid presents its proposals for the NWCC project – a £2.8bn, 164km connection running around the coast of Cumbria.

July 2016

Toshiba’s executive officer and corporate senior vice president Takeshi Yokota becomes chairman of NuGen.


January 2017

NuGen pledges its commitment to Moorside after Toshiba sees 40 per cent wiped off its value when its US subsidiary, Westinghouse Electric, reveals it may have overpaid by several billions of dollars for another nuclear construction and services business.

February 2017

Tom Samson says Toshiba remains committed to NuGen and Moorside after the company completes a review of its nuclear power business outside Japan.

March 2017

Westinghouse’s AP1000 reactors complete the Office for Nuclear Regulation and Environment Agency’s Generic Design Assessment, making them ready for deployment.

In the United States Westinghouse Electric files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Kepco reveals its interest in becoming part of NuGen.

April 2017

Engie exercises its right to sell its 40 per cent of shares in NuGen to Toshiba, leaving Toshiba as sole owner. Toshiba reiterates that it is looking to secure other investors in NuGen and unions begin calls for the Government to take a stake in the project.

May 2017

National Grid's NWCC project is put on hold due to the uncertainty surrounding Moorside.

China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation head to London for talks over possible investment in NuGen.

September 2017

China General Nuclear Power Corporation – an investor in new nuclear plants at Hinkley Point C and Bradwell B and Sizewell C – emerges as a potential investor in Moorside.

December 2017

Kepco is named as preferred bidder to buy NuGen in its entirety, with a view to completing the deal in the first half of 2018.


January 2018

Toshiba sells Westinghouse Electric Company to Brookfield for £3.4bn.

May 2018

A Korean government energy official says Kepco hopes to complete the deal for NuGen by September 2018.

June 2018

NuGen welcomes the Government’s pledge to explore “sustainable funding models” for new nuclear build as business secretary Greg Clark confirms the Government is weighing up whether to put money in to the Horizon nuclear project at Wylfa Newydd, Anglesey.

The Government pledges to work with the industry to cut the cost of nuclear new build in its new Nuclear Sector Deal.

July 2018

NuGen announces it is restructuring because of the prolonged time it has taken for a deal to be struck between Toshiba and Kepco. Toshiba strips Kepco of preferred bidder status and confirms it is considering additional options.

August 2018

Sources in Korea say the deal between Toshiba and Kepco has been delayed because the Government wants to evaluate whether to apply a Regulated Asset Base model to the Moorside development.

NuGen provides the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy with information to carry Moorside forward into its renewed national policy statements as a site for energy generation from 2026 to 2035.

September 2018

NuGen confirms it is cutting around 70 jobs as it refocuses its efforts on helping Toshiba to find a buyer, with chief executive Tom Samson saying he will “fight tooth and nail” to save Moorside. According to reports, Westinghouse’s new owner Brookfield enters talks with Toshiba over a deal for NuGen

October 2018

Prime Minister Theresa May repeatedly dismisses the future of Moorside as a “commercial issue” during an interview at the Conservative Party Conference. Reports emerge that Toshiba is considering “liquidating NuGen”

November 2018

Toshiba’s board takes the decision to wind up NuGen.